Davis Cup champions Croatia won the battle of the heavyweights at the Rochusclub in Duesseldorf on Monday, beating the United States 2-1 in the Blue Group of the ARAG ATP World Team Championship.

Ivan Ljubicic and Ivo Karlovic secured the winning point in the doubles rubber with a 6-3, 7-6(5) win over Bob and Mike Bryan, currently ranked No. 1 in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race.

Earlier in the day Ljubicic had got Croatia off to a fantastic start, as the No. 5 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings continued extended his career-winning streak over American James Blake to four matches.

Ljubicic struggled for consistency in the first set, but played his “best match on clay” of the year in testing conditions at the Rochusclub to beat Blake 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(4).

“It was a fantastic match against James Blake,” said Ljubicic afterwards.

“I possibly played my best match on clay this year. I think I deserved to win. A victory is a victory. I am particularly pleased to have achieved it in clay.

Blake, this year’s winner of ATP singles titles in Sydney and Las Vegas, complimented his opponent by saying: “Ljubicic is one of the best players in the world. He has a very good service, but is also a good defensive player.

“I am quite happy with myself. I am currently improving on clay.”

Blake’s best clay-court result of 2006 came last week at ATP Masters Series Hamburg where he lost to Ljubicic’s Croatian compatriot Mario Ancic in the third round.

Robby Ginepri beat Croatia’s Karlovic to get the U.S. back on level terms in a 6-4, 7-6(1) win in 69 minutes.

While the pair had never played each other in an ATP match, 27-year-old Karlovic had beaten the American at a Challenger event on a hard court five years ago.

At 1-1 the stage was set for a thrilling finale. Ljubicic and Karlovic combined for victory in one hour and 21 minutes.